CT Veteran Sues To Upgrade Thousands Of Army Discharges Nationwide

A Connecticut veterans’ leader Monday filed a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of Army veterans nationwide who, like him, were given less than honorable discharges for behaviors later attributed to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Stephen Kennedy of Fairfield, a lead plaintiff, is a decorated Army veteran and a founder of the state chapter of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. In the suit, he claims the Army isn’t following a Pentagon policy to make it easier for veterans with PTSD to upgrade their discharge statuses.

Stephen Kennedy

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport, is asking the court to order the Army to properly apply the policy. Issued by former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the policy directs military review boards to give “liberal consideration” to veterans whose service-connected PTSD is diagnosed after discharge. A second plaintiff, Alicia J. Carson, a former Connecticut resident who was in the Army and the National Guard and now lives in Alaska, is also named in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit potentially affects thousands of veterans with General Under Honorable and Other Than Honorable (OTH) discharge statuses, said Helen White, a student in the Yale Law School Veterans Legal Services Clinic, which is representing the plaintiffs. The class of plaintiffs encompasses Army veterans discharged since April 2002.

At a morning news conference at Yale, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, said, “The Department of Defense has failed to provide the relief that the law provides… failed to provide the consistent standard. This lawsuit should not be necessary.”

Blumenthal said that these soldiers “do not want sympathy, they want real results.”

He noted that the lawsuit does not seek any money, “just basic justice.”

For those with general discharges, an upgrade would allow them to re-enter the Army, and make them eligible for education benefits under the federal G.I. bill as well as perks, like scholarships given by veterans’ groups.

Kennedy, a doctoral student, estimates he has lost out on $90,000 in G.I. education aid.

Those with OTH discharges would become eligible for federal and state veterans’ benefits, such as health care and disability benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and state property tax exemptions, which many can’t get now.

According to U.S. Department of Defense statistics obtained by the Harvard Law School Veterans Legal Clinic, 81,997 enlisted members of the Army received general under honorable discharges from 2002 through 2013, the most recent years available. Another 32,973 received OTH discharges in that period.

Stephen Kennedy discusses his military service as U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal looks on.

Kennedy, 31, filed a lawsuit in December on his own behalf asking for a court-ordered discharge upgrade, which he is still seeking for himself. The class action is an amended version of that lawsuit.

He has tried twice for an upgrade, first in 2009 when he was still battling mental illness. “The process is a huge burden to put on anybody. If you’re having mental health difficulties, it’s impossible,” he said.

Kennedy joined the Army after two years at Boston University. He was given leadership posts, fast-tracked to become a sergeant and awarded the prestigious Army Achievement Medal.

His mental health problems emerged after he returned from Iraq to Fort Bragg, N.C. He performed well at work during the day. But at night, he drank and smoked heavily. He became suicidal, and habitually cut himself. “I was really a mess,” he said.

He got into trouble in 2009 after he left his base without permission for his wedding and honeymoon, an act he attributes to PTSD. He said he had received verbal approval from superiors a year before, but a new officer refused him, saying he needed written authorization. Kennedy, who grew up in Monroe, said if he had been well, he would have appealed the refusal. Instead, he avoided the situation, a behavior consistent with PTSD, he said.

After his wedding, he returned to his base and was diagnosed with depressive disorder, demoted, docked two months pay, and transferred to a different company. He was discharged after an Army psychiatrist told him the base didn’t have the resources to treat him. He spent years seeing psychiatrists and taking medications. He was diagnosed with PTSD by private and VA doctors.

In 2015, feeling well and his life on track, he applied again to the Army Discharge Review Board for an upgrade and was turned down in a 3-2 vote.

Photo Provided by Kennedy.

Stephen Kennedy (pictured left) in Haditha, Iraq.

“What makes his case so compelling is he did everything he was supposed to do in a discharge upgrade proceeding—letters from therapists, evidence of honorable service, and a personal statement explaining the link between his PTSD and his AWOL,” White, of the law clinic, said. “If he can’t be successful,” she added, “it’s extremely unlikely that other veterans are getting proper adjudications from the board.”

Ashley Ingram, a former law student who worked on the case, said, “We know that Mr. Kennedy’s case is not unique.”

In response to Kennedy’s initial suit, the Army asked the court to either dismiss the case on the basis that a military personnel issue shouldn’t be decided in a civil court, or to remand it back to the Army, where Kennedy could file again for an upgrade. In a court brief, the Army said it lost four documents that Kennedy submitted in his 2015 upgrade hearing.

The Army said Kennedy didn’t exhaust all potential military options because he didn’t apply to a second board, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records.

Kennedy is pursuing a doctorate in biophysical chemistry at New York University. He and his wife, Catherine, have two children. As a leader of the state chapter of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, he advocates for state and federal veterans’ legislation. Until recently, he never talked about his discharge status because he was embarrassed, he said.

Carson a former Southington resident, joined the National Guard, Fox Company of the 186 Brigade Support Battalion, on December 25, 2008. Her unit deployed to Afghanistan in early 2010. She was promoted to Gunner and responsible for the safety and security of her vehicle and participated in more than 100 missions in fewer than 300 days, the lawsuit said. She returned home in late 2010, participated in weekend drills but began suffering from PTSD-related symptoms, such as nightmares, loss of consciousness, and loss of memory.

A VA psychiatrist diagnosed Carson with PTSD and traumatic bring injury in March 2012 and she notified her superior officers that she could no longer participate in weekend drills, the suit said. She was later given a general discharge.

8 thoughts on “CT Veteran Sues To Upgrade Thousands Of Army Discharges Nationwide”

This is such an important issue for our veterans. There seems to be some information missing. How does one with a “bad” discharge paper get into the class action suit? Or is done automatically? How can you check if you are included? Some guidance would be great as I would love to help get the word out.

I am a vietnam veteran who received an other than honorable discharge. I’ve and been denied an upgrade I need help in this matter I’ve been fighting for three years now. I was 16 years of age when I went into the army in 1968. I need help could you direct me in the right direction.

I believe that all the people that served in the Military with minor offenses if any, should have their discharge upgraded, and I am one of them people, I had problems, I tried to speak to everyone of my staff leaders, but was just brushed to the side, we need someone to help us..

I got a BCD and I have new evidence that supports the fact that I did not deserve a G.C.M or the B.C.D and the review boards denied me 3 times illegally and this shit is in-humane, I need help with this, my name is Spc Joshua A Pruitt, 202-388-1495 or 202-730-6885 JoshuaAPruitt205@gmail.com,

I have been in Washington DC ever since I received my new evidence that took me literally a decade to get and every Veteran Service Organization has been DISGUSTING in DC and I have been illegally denied my Career and my benefits and I have been separated from the service on TEMPORARY RECORDS, my career has been in limbo since 2005 and I have no civil liberties or rights, I have graduated from school 3 times and I do not know why I am working on a 4th time because I can not get hired by anyone anywhere, THIS SHIT HAS TO STOP!!! Thank you for filing that lawsuit and I need in on it, I have every piece of documentation since my career started and btw MY WHOLE PLATOON was sent to prison unlawfully and illegally!!!!!!!!!

I DID NOT DESERVE THE PUNISHMENT THAT I GOT, I received a two year prison sentence and lost my wife, my home and my whole life…….

I am a soldier that was illegally convicted during OEF Afghanistan 2005-2006, I have been turned away time and time again by every Veteran Organization known including the American Legion, It took me a decade to get the evidence needed to prove my innocence but the various boards have denied me time and time again illegally… Living without my civil rights and liberties ever since. If I wasn’t a soldier I would not have made it this far, there is no human being in their right minds that can live a life like this but I know that Jesus Christ is real and he is the reason I have made it this far, I need to hook up with you guys, I was going to file my law-suit this week until I seen this post today, I would like to run my lawsuit concurrent with this lawsuit that is being filed. I hope you guys are willing to help me. Please contact me soon…..

President Donald J Trump’s Veteran Hotline is a joke, I called them and told them that too, When you call his hotline, they take your complaints but guess where they send those complaints to??? Right back to the idiots that have been denying you for all those years, the Department of Veteran Affairs, what a joke……

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